Published: November 27, 2003

Milan Babic, a former Croatian Serb leader, made an unexpected appearance at the United Nations war crimes tribunal but declined to enter a plea. He was indicted last week for allegedly participating in a scheme to ''ethnically cleanse'' parts of Croatia at the start of the Balkan wars, but his whereabouts had been unknown. The tribunal would give no details on how he came to be in The Hague.